Damascene Winters

About this book

In the wind of jasmine and iron, there are winters resembling no seasons, winters that rain down choking lumps in throats, freezing the features of safe cities to suddenly turn into tales of horror and steadfastness. In the heart of Damascus, where silk curtains embrace crystal chandeliers, and the scent of coffee blended with cardamom mingles with the fragrance of jasmine overlooking majestic Mount Qasioun, begins the warm Damascene tale with features of passing joy: a bride and groom stepping toward their new nest with boundless optimism. Yet those days thought never to return stood on the threshold of stormy transformations and political upheavals that would change the face of history and cast their heavy shadows over safe homes. Between the corridors of the building with the black iron gate, destinies intertwine: a dedicated pediatrician healing children's hearts with patience, a mother clinging to optimism to escape loss, and sons each carrying a secret folded against their ribs. Between Jalal, the well-mannered young man wrapped in a cave of mystery and concealment, and his brother Fahd with his fiery glances and solid determination unafraid of risk, a sharp corridor of surprises opens. Fates move with their awe and cruelty when treachery seeps through informant reports written in hateful lines, snatching beloved children in the darkness of dawn and casting them into the abysses of cells where human value vanishes. Bodies evaporate and disappearance becomes as ordinary as lost luggage, and the strength of steadfast mountains turns into breaking and sobbing behind the walls of silence. Damascene Winters is not merely a novel about repression and dungeons; it is a human mirror reflecting a purely Damascene family epic. It digs into the values of compassion and faithfulness even in the darkest cells, and records the souls' struggle for survival and clinging to thin threads of hope amid the cruelty of freezing cold. A captivating story blending the warmth of enchanting emotion, the bitterness of sweeping loss, and the pursuit of embers of revenge, to answer the eternal question: do souls die all at once, or do they slowly corrode awaiting their final death?